Tactics of Evil: Revamped
by WaterNymph333
Summary: HA! I'm back! And after review have found that the story of insane school girls and navigationallychallenged necromancers needed revision. Behold the fruits of my labor.
1. The New Begining Of DOOM

Disclaimers: I own no part of Diablo II! I've decided to redo that piece of crap fanfiction to redeem myself, and to stave off boredom at the end of the year... So that it's not all crappy as it was. So yeah, hopefully you'll enjoy this mooooore! To those who are the slightest bit confused, yeah, I'm MisstressFanGirl, but due to Yahoo hating me... I kinda had to remake my account. Give comments and critiques, but please, keep the flames to mild.

Nor do I own the phrase 'Christ Chex', and if you're offended by that term, then you fail at usage of a brain.

: Chapter One:

Oddly enough, she had expected that being stuck in a video game would have been more... Well, entertaining. Her expectations had been greatly ignored, and in the back of her mind Ran-ran couldn't help but wonder if this was all the work of Karma. Or perhaps it was merely a dream, one which would soon loose its overall angst feel and become utterly silly, as they were known too. Yet the hours and hours she had been sitting there, bored, were evidence against it.

Maybe she had just gone insane, that was always a possibility.

Chocolate brown eyes peered through thinly rimmed glasses at her current surroundings, at the decrepit camp and few rouges that managed to get out alive from the monastery. There was almost hopelessness to the air that made Ran-ran feel a touch blue herself. They sky was thickly covered with a blanket of soft pewter gray, and the small camp with the few tents and wagons and people all seemed to blend perfect. Shadows danced back from the fire she sat at, beneath her a long log that was covered with pale yellow lichens and was hard on her rump. But at least the fire was warm, and for a moment Ran-ran took time to simply notice how comfortable it all was, the slight autumn chill in the air and the warm of the fire clashing pleasantly. It was cool enough to keep her comfortable, and yet warm enough to keep her pale olive skin from quaking with shivers and covered with Goosebumps.

Ran-ran sighed a bit and wrapped her arms around her abdomen, mind musing about the possibility of this being a dream. What would have been the point of it, anyway? She hadn't been playing Diablo II obsessively as of late, nor had she thought of the game all that much. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, wondering what her mind could have been trying to tell her, what her subconscious was trying to betray behind her eyes. Maybe it was the way she felt on the inside...?

Looking down at herself, trying to take in what she was wearing, maybe that would hold a clue to the dream's meaning. That blue shirt, one of her favorites, a soft light shade with black vines upon it, with a delicate design of white of a woman's profile. It was soft, cottony, short sleeved. Underneath the shirt she could feel the tightness of that corset her brother's friend had given her, the cups of it just curving about her small breasts. Odd, why was she wearing that? Not that she really needed it either; her body lean and in fact under weight, even for her elementary-school height. But she quickly forgot about that matter, smiling as she looked upon the slate-blue of her baggy pants, just loose on Ran-ran's legs and mostly-covering her booted feet. Reaching up to flick about the area just in front of her neck, Ran-ran smiled at the pretty jingle of the bell tied to the studded fake-leather collar about her neck. At least her manner of dress was the same, but it was then that she noted the weight in her lap, and blinked as she looked down.

Around her body, and under her right arm was the dark gray strap, attaching to the black-jean material of her courier bag. It had been fairly new, acting in place of her backpack through out the New Year of high school. Ran-ran really did like it, smiling as she stroked the fabric, and upon closer inspection found that the sack was rather full. Unable to help her curiosity, she pulled the strap from around her body, setting the bag up right as she pulled the flap up, wincing at the familiar ripping of the Velcro being pulled from its grip. Her two folders, both covered in silver gray duct tape, a hair brush, sharpies in several different colors, a bottle of vodka, that scented candle her brother had bought her for Christmas, a bag of stay-puff marshmallows, and a large box of strike-anywhere-matches.

The interesting collection of items kept her mind occupied for a time, Ran-ran tempted to down the alcohol and loose her sobriety –after all, what teenager in their right state of mind actually **wanted** to be sober? -- But then thought better of it. After all, was it even possible to become inebriated in a dream? With a sigh, she closed took out the brush. It was maroon, with black bristles, an old present from her grandfather's girlfriend. Ran-ran reached up, tugging the hair band holding her hair in a bun atop her head, shaking her head once it was loose, fragrant hair falling about her shoulders. Its recent coloring from a dark chocolate brown to shades of red and purple for the tips and part about her face had faded just, now a raspberry shade that held hints of fuscia highlights.

For a time she brushed it, noting how oily her hair felt. It was annoying, and Ran-ran felt a great compulsion for a shower, wanting to wash the locks until they were clean and dry and soft. But she stopped, remembering with a frown that she was indeed still stuck in this world of medieval technology. There were no showers, no computers, no CD players or batteries. And worst than that, it was a world facing an Armageddon, one which might go array from the game's plot and instead, and allow the three brothers to succeed in their plots-- and yet there she sat brushing her hair of all things. It was shocking, and made her feel helpless and overwhelmed, like a stack of homework yet undone lay before her, and was due the next day of class. Only this time she knew that it could mean her death. Ran-ran forgot the fact that the situation might be a dream, allowing her to slip from lucidity and go along with it fully and completely.

Her mind rushing with plans and wondering where to start with perhaps helping to save the world, Ran-ran sat up straighter, putting her brush away and pulled her hair back. She made quick work of the locks, binding them into a tight braid that guaranteed that none of the hairs would stray into her face. Tying off the end with a tight black rubber band, Ran-ran then closed her bag, and then pulled it over her body once again.

Standing, Ran-ran smiled just to herself as light drizzle started, driving the merchants into their tents and wagons, and before Warriv had a chance to invite her out of the cold rain, she had started out. She shifted her glasses on her face just, ignoring the looks the rouges gave her as she exited the fortress' tall wooden barriers. Into the Blood Moor, the very first level of the game which the lowest level of worriers went, where the player was to start out on. The largely flat plan had a thick fog on its surface, nearly opaque, allowing her to see only a blurred outline of small cottages, trees, and of slowly moving figures every now and again.

Ran-ran took a deep breath, smiling keeping as a knot of nervousness found itself pulling itself in her stomach. Only, it felt more to the point of doubt, and as she walked along the path, father and farther from the safety of the rouge's camp she realized... She couldn't fight the forces of evil! At least not by herself. What could she possibly do that would make a difference, throw lit matches at them while singing drunkenly? Even though she wanted to help, she felt as if she couldn't, a 16-year-old girl, who just brushed against the five-foot mark, weak in her own body, a useless worrier! Hell, even the starting-out character classes had some strength or magic skill to help them along their way, but she had nothing.

"What in the Hell am I doing?" She asked herself, Ran-ran looking back to find the walls of the encampment hardly in her sight anymore. Surrounded in fog, alone and vulnerable, she shivered and hugged her arms about herself. The small gesture did nothing to help her to calm the growing feeling of fear. She felt like screaming, of ducking her head into a dune of sand to hide and hope the feeling of danger would pass.

But the sound of something almost human, of another living creature made her jump, heart skipping a beat in fear, the foggy air carrying the sound of a moan. Ran-ran recognized it immediately, knowing the unenthused sound was of one of the most-basic minions of evil in practically every game, of the very symbol of evil that was the very driving force and reason for several series of games.

Zombies.

She gave a squeak, stopping in her tracks as she listened, hearing the sounds of slow shuffling. They were getting closer it seemed, louder and soon Ran-ran could see the fog darkening to show a moving figure. She held still, not moving at all as she heard the creature mumble with its decaying vocal cords.

It stopped, suddenly; the tall man just five feet from her now. His skin was pale, parts of it blue and black and the air about them starting to smell of death and rot. Images of maggot-filled corpses lying by the railroad track found their way into Ran-ran's mind, making her stiffen. Eyes that were dull turned towards her, the clothes on the creature ragged and dishealved, his head looked as if his scalp had been ripped, its skull-cracked open and a large portion of his brains missing.

"Braaains..." was all it got out before the dead muscles driven now by demonic and necromantic magics drove the living dead creature forward, arms out-stretched as it started forward quickly to her. Naturally, if any living dead creature was stumbling towards one, Ran-ran took several shaky steps back, crying out in distress. Her eyes were wide, and the sudden thought of saving the world entered her mind. This was the deciding point, she knew, for weather or not she could actually follow through and make an effort. Now was the moment she had to choose, sink or swim, fight or run away screaming like and little girl. With a slight cry to battle, sounding more something that belong to a fighting ninja in any number of animes she loved so, Ran-ran had curled a hand into a fist, digging her toes into the mud and flew forward. The blow connected with the zombie's face.

It stumbled back just a foot or so, as if in shock. The zombie seemed to pause for a moment, as if checking to make sure its perspective on the world was still correct, that a _small girl_ had actually _punched_ him. During this time Ran-ran backed off in slight fear, waiting to see what it would do next. Her fists were still raised, though memories of her characters of low level nearly dying trying to punch a zombie to death made her doubt that punch did much more than confuse the monster. The zombie started forward again, with a new vigor for the fight, and with a squeal, Ran-ran had turned and started running, crying out as if it would do any good,

"AH! Run away run away!"

Fortunately for her, however, the zombie was rather slow. In fact it was very slow, and Ran-ran stopped as she noticed the creature was far behind her, grinning as she reached into her pack, bringing out the bottle of vodka and strike-anywhere-matches. The zombie was gaining on her as she took out a few matches, and unscrewed the hard liquor. She was tempted to taut the living dead, though knew it wouldn't have done that much good as it drew closer. Ran-ran took a swig of the alcohol, wincing as half a mouthful went burning down her throat, the rest she kept in her mouth. She stuck the match, the drizzle not able to stop the small flame from lighting. Taking in a deep breath through her nose, Ran-ran lifted the burning match, the zombie growing closer.

Then, she sprayed the vodka out of her mouth, the liquor exploding into a ball of fire as it passed through the flame, and the zombie was caught in the middle of the inferno. The moistness from the drizzle was immediately evaporated as the fire caught on the clothing and skin of the zombie. It didn't even cry out in distress, but Ran-ran did as it continued to chase her, fire burning on its form and mumbling about brains more.

"Crap crap run away run away!" She screamed as she dropped the burning match, turned and started to run again, not even putting any effort as she knew the zombie was slower, "Flaming zombie flaming zombie! Run away run away!"

So they were like this for a time, Ran-ran running and the zombie chasing. But the fire kept burning, and after slowing to a quick jog, she often turned around to check that the zombie was still both burning and following her. They had gone far off the beaten path, and Ran-ran eventually led the zombie in a slow circle around a well. It had had enough it seemed, the zombie, and after reaching out to Ran-ran one last time, collapsed. The oddly familiar sound made her tilt her head and stop, blinking as she looked back.

Still, the zombie burned, and beside it, lay a bundle of arrows. Ran-ran looked down at them, an eyebrow raised. She gave a slow blink, brow giving a soft twitch as she pursed her lips, taking a deep breath through her nose. After a few quick blinks in the moment of slight awkwardness, Ran-ran tilted her head to the sky, the dark pewter gray sky, and said as if talking to a deity,

"All that... For fucking arrows! What the fuck! Couldn't I at least have gotten something useful like a dagger? What the fuck dude! What am I suppose to do with fucking **arrows**!"

The sky gave no answer, though the drizzle had lessened just the slightest bit. Ran-ran narrowed her eyes at the clouded sky, lips slowly relaxing back into a frown. Her gaze slowly turned back to the arrows and the burning corpse. With one fluent motion, Ran-ran was sitting on the ground; legs crossed indian style as she drew out an arrow. Then, she poured more vodka on the corpse, not about to let the fire die out. She smiled as she corked the liquor, putting it away as she drew out that bag of marshmallows, and pulled open the clear plastic to impale several white confections on the shaft of the arrow. Now if only she had some chocolate and gram crackers.

But for the moment, Ran-ran was able to forget about that as she held the marshmallow over the fire, letting the heat brown it to a beautiful golden. It was a good moment then, quiet and calm. Ran-ran knew that she couldn't simply go throughout the whole game spraying enemies down with ignited vodka—she'd run out of vodka, and more than likely run into fire-resistant monsters. Besides, what would she do when swarmed with enemies, hope they stand in an orderly fashion to die? No no, that was no way to go about doing things, what she needed was someone to help her.

"Now if only I had my necromancer character here…" Ran-ran mused as she lifted the marshmallow up, as if speaking to it, "Then some serious ass would be kicked…"

She sighed as she shook her head, blowing on the mildly caramelized and hardened shell of the marshmallow before happily eating it. Ran-ran gave a slight giggle as she chewed, licking the arrowhead clean and putting it with the rest of the arrows, then putting the quiver in her pack. Then, she stood, drank from the well, and had decided upon exploring more. Of course the bottle of vodka and box of matches were at hand incase another living dead or quill rat was happened upon.

And so, Ran-ran walked through the fog, not even bothering to try and find the beaten path. It was much easier to simply pick a random direction and follow it, as she had neither slightly transparent map above her head—or any at all really-- nor compass to point her in any direction. Through the fog a structure was slowly becoming apparent, large as a cottage, though much more open. Ran-ran smiled as she carefully approached, listening intently for whatever might have been inside. It was a familiar structure, with only a wall on one side while the other was open with only a few poles holding it up. Peering around the corner, her expectations of another battle dropped as she found herself face to face with a red and white furred bovine.

"A cow?… There are zombies running about, Andariel is reeking havoc on the gate-thingy, the three bros. of doom and doing their whole thing… and yet there's still a cow?" Ran-ran asked as she approached, putting vodka and matches away. The creature looked at her, and she looked right back at the cow. After a moment the creature turned its head back to its hay, and Ran-ran leaned against the wall of the shelter. Gently, she reached out and stroked the large animal's side. Its fur was rather coarse, but held a warmth to it that was rather welcome, "I guess the zombies aren't interested in you, ne?"

Ran-ran sighed and tilted her head back, in the distance hearing the high-pitched cries of the Fallen that wandered the moor without a shaman to resurrect them. Sure, they were known pussies that would run away at the first sign of resistance, but she felt reluctant to go and tackle the problem at hand. It was worst than trying to get up and go to school, because at least she knew what lay ahead of her at high school. At the moo of the cow, who turned herself a bit though, Ran-ran opened here eyes again, the blinked a bit, her mind processing a though, which quickly hammered itself into a plan.

Soon she was smiling, bracing herself against the wall as she climbed upon the cow's back. It didn't seem to mind though, only making an odd little sound at the extra weight. Not that it was much though, Ran-ran not even weighing 100 pounds. But it did make her slightly nervous, the hard back of the cow between her legs, feeling the slight shifting of the creature as it wasn't sure what she mean to do up there.

"Aye… I know the Hindus hold you cow's really sacred and all… so I'm uber sorry about what I'm about to do… But honestly I think that you fair better against these demons than I." Ran-ran said, one hand gripping tightly to a handful of hair, the other reaching into her pack to pull out an arrow.

Before Ran-ran really knew what was going on, the cow had given a loud sound of distress and pain and shot forward—taking her with it. As it bucked and stampeded forward she couldn't hold in the scream of fear and distress. Past quill rats and zombies and shrines they went. She had dropped the arrow, holding tightly with both hands as they passed the entrance to a cave pained with blood. Ran-ran's whole body was shaking in what she knew was a horrible idea. That is, until they passed the fallen, the cow seeming as if it was chasing down the red imps to trample them under its hooves.

But that did nothing to quell the growing fear in Ran-ran as the sound of running water alerted her to the river they were approaching. Not that she would be able to see her body shoken back and forth with every buck of the cow beneath her. It was a feat that her glasses didn't fall off in the entire process of her managing to hold onto the creature. However, her grip failed at last, and with one sharp buck Ran-ran was sent flying from the cow's back, and onto the ground hard. She landed on her back, bouncing and rolling onto her side. The thinly framed glasses landed somewhere a few feet from her.

Ran-ran groaned as he rolled onto her back, eyes squeezed shut from the shock of the pain that was just settling into her body. The cow sped away, over the bridge she lay just before. She didn't even notice the sound of bones against the cobblestone or footsteps as they neared, pausing her inward musing of her injuries as someone spoke to her.

"Dear _God_ child, you must be insane to try and ride a cow like that." Someone said, their voice and deep and masculine, holding just hint of an accent that reminded her something of british, or maybe of some eastern tongue. But she recognized it right away, even if it varied slightly from the voice she knew so well, "Are you alright?"

"Oooh, **crap**… That hurt, nyaaa…." Ran-ran groaned after a moment, rather quietly as the wind that was knocked out of her was slowly gained back with deep breaths. She squeezed her eyes hard one last time before slowly opened them. And her inward guess was right about her the owner of the voice that was kneeling by her. He was pale, beyond the normal rates of humans, his hair and skin both whiter than snow, and his face held a slight gauntness. But he looked rather youthful, despite looking slightly aged, with a light of curiosity and concern in bright blue-green eyes. The armor he wore was of blackened metal, the shoulder pieces and breast plate having some similarities to that of bone, while the dagger in his hand shone a slimy green hue to it. Behind him Ran-ran spotted animated skeletons, four of them, bleach white and holding weaponry, unmoving, as their empty sockets seemed to glare down at her. She managed to push herself up, with a pained groan, saying quietly, "Uuugh… I'm fine, I'm fine…"

He rose an eyebrow, helping Ran-ran too her feet, then marveled at how short she was—perhaps a foot beneath his own height. She got her glasses back on her face, shifting them slightly as the pain from her soon-to-be bruised body.

"Do I dare ask what you were doing riding a cow to begin with?" The necromancer, quite randomly placed on the moor, asked as Ran-ran looked around to get her barrings.

"Getting past some creepy little Fallen things," She said in response, though her voice reflected her absent interest in the subject, eyes wandering. They stood near the bridge that linked the two halves of the Blood Moor split by the river, the fog about them seeming moderately dispersed by the presence of the burning torch near the bridge she failed to notice before. Looking back at the death mage before her tilting her head a bit as she asked, "And what are you up to wandering about the Blood Moor?"

At this question, however, the necromancer seemed mildly confused, his brow furrowing as he reached back and plucked from under his arm a loosely rolled length of paper. Unrolling it, those sharp blue-green eyes scanned over the worn, yellowed paper for a time, pale rose lips whispering to himself. A map, perhaps? After a time of the necromancer glancing from the paper's surface to the surrounding areas, he looked back at her. One of his eyebrows was quirked just the slightest degree upwards as he said,

"Is this not the Cold Plain?"

Ran-ran blinked, looking around and wondered if perhaps this particular necromancer was navigationally challenged in any way. She stepped closely next to him, looking over at the map, and then at the area around them. Reaching up, Ran-ran took the map gently from the necromancer's hands to turn it 180 degrees about.

"It was upside-down…" Ran-ran said to explain her actions at the stare she had gained from him, then, turning and walked past the skeletons, starting over the bridge, calling over her shoulder, "C'mon! Cold Plain's this way!"

He reluctantly followed her, allowing Ran-ran to be the navigator for the time. Walking on the beaten path once again, she rolled the map back up, but kept it on hand. But in the silence of the moment, she realized that this was the chance she had been thinking about earlier. With this randomly placed necromancer and his skeletons she had a greater chance to actually help with Sanctuary's saving!

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" The tall necromancer asked, glancing down at her, his tone of voice hopeful that she was wrong and yet hopeless in the embarrassment at not being able to even have the map held correctly.

"Yes, I am, Mr. Necromancer." Ran-ran sighed, smiling just a touch as she looked up at him, that last part added merely to gauge his reaction. She just hoped, in the back of her mind, that he didn't end up sending his skeletons after her, because that would be the absolute failure of her day. Instead, he acted with slight suprise and for the next five minutes or so lectured her. Something about 'respecting one's elders' that Ran-ran rolled her eyes at. Typical teenager reaction, finally cutting in at a pause of the lecture to ask in a semi-sweet tone of voice, "Okay okay, what do you want me to call you? Fluffy? Dude? Peter Piper?"

"I **want** you to call me by my name, not a generic and offensive title."

"Which is?… And don't tell me 'Mr. Necromancer' offends you!"

"It does, and for any future reference my name is Necromi, _thank you very much_."

"Oh, like that's a big- wait… Um… Never mind… I'm Ran-ran…" She blinked, having heared the name she herself came up with for her character. Sure, it wasn't exactly the most original of names for a necromancer, but Ran-ran had always like it. But she had to wonder if it was a coincidence of her dreams that he was named that, or if this necromancer was really **her** necromancer. If so, _Christ Chex_, her character was uptight, even for someone who was to be responsible for saving the world.


	2. To Tristram!

Disclaimers: Still no ownage of D2 here. But then again you knew that, right? Right, to assume that I actually owned any rights to Diablo II would be... Well... Silly

: Chapter Two:

While indeed Necromi was embarrassed by the fact that Ran-ran could navigate better then he, it did not take long after finding the Cold Plain and traveling for the monster situation to become apparent again. And for Ran-ran to employ her 'Run away, run away!' tactic to survive. Of course, it didn't last long, the necromancer she traveled with quite competent on the battlefield. So, she only had to scream and run once, soon seeing not a moment later that the threat had been effectively cursed stabbed, bludgeoned, and poisoned to death.

It was Quite stressful for Ran-ran, doing both navigating and trying to stay alive, after a time pushing for Necromi to summon forth a golem from the earth, and then make sure that its first priority was protecting her. Of course, this did manage to annoy her necromancer just a bit, often calling her insane or something the like. But he never let her die, or even get a scratch for that matter, seeing as she was still navigating them towards the place they needed to go. Which, since Necromi had cleared out the Den of Evil, thus having the rouge's blessings and trust, was to investigate the happenings at the cemetery and put Blood Raven out of her misery.

Once inside the barriers of the Burial Grounds, the undead that swarmed about them took a minute to take notice of them. The plan was originally for Ran-ran to make use of an amulet to increase her stamina and speed and distract the surrounding zombies and skeletons Blood Raven had as Necromi and his horde attacked the demon archer. It was rather simple, and Ran-ran knew from experience playing the particular quest in the game over and over that it would be a piece of cake to have her necromancer kill the first significant boss of the game. Hell, she even got a front row seat to watch the battle, and all she had to do was make sure she kept out of the reach of the significantly slower living dead about her.

Well, needless to say the plan hadn't worked as they _originally_ planned it to. The first circumstance that led to a change in the plan was the fact that while running around and distracting the zombies as Necromi dodged flaming arrows and he and his horde tried their hardest to catch Blood Raven, Ran-ran was anything but weary of the empty graves. She managed to dodge about some of them, by pure luck, only to fall backwards with a scream. Well, since the zombies were anything but smart enough to actually go in after the grave for the girl, they simply returned to chasing Necromi in a painfully slow mannerism.

The summoned skeletons and golem then turned their attention to the other undead, leaving Necromi to chase after Blood Raven on his own. Ran-ran climbed out of the gave just enough to start pulling her body out and trying to avoid being stepped on by the nearby battle of skeleton vs. skeleton. As she was almost out, hearing the cackling of the approaching Blood Raven, the girl had looked back just in time to watch the dead rogue's foot catch on her side. Both of them cried out, the archer going down as for the second time that day the wind was knocked from Ran-ran.

Blood Raven again got to her feet, as Ran-ran rolled to get up as well. Far behind either of them Necromi was busy contending with a skeleton that tried to keep his attention. The risen captain grabbed up her bow again, and looked up to see not her enemy, but instead the girl. They looked at each other for brief moment, Ran-ran with a look of surprise and Blood Raven with one of analyzation of this little girl. And then, as if with out reason, Ran-ran gave a scream, and so did Blood Raven.

Not exactly wanting to be killed, Ran-ran started running, the laughing demon on her heels, a few flaming arrows speeding past her. The screaming continued for a time, either females running about the graveyard as Necromi tried to catch up. And he did, Blood Raven having stopped to fire more arrows at Ran-ran, and Necromi taking the opportunity to attack the demon archer. The bow was knocked from her grip, and the few moments they wrestled on the ground Ran-ran has stopped to go and watch the carnage from that became of the Blood Raven dying from behind the broken gate.

Despite how terribly arie the plan had gone, Blood Raven was killed, and both Ran-ran and Necromi were still alive. At least that seemed like the plan as they went to go and inform the rogues of the demise of the fallen archer. After a short break for rest, thank you's and some roasted pig for lunch, they were approached by Akara. Or, well, **Necromi** was approached by the priestess; Ran-ran fidgeted and was ignored.

But still, she had requested that the two make use of their time and try to save Deckard Cain. Oh Ran-ran remembered this quest well, having rolled her eyes and sighing a bit by the fact that they had to go semi-out of their way to save the old coot. But hey, she knew that not saving him would probably disrupt the very fabric and time line of the story line—not to mention that they would to _pay_ to have items identified for the rest of the game. And by god that would be a pain in the ass, Ran-ran liked her free item identification!

She just hoped that Necromi's navigationally challenged ass could make it all the way through the underground passage and through the dark wood before the demons of Tristram could kill Cain. Three hours had passed of Ran-ran and the golem simply staying near the large pillars of mage cair stones. Unfortunately her necromancer claimed that he had a natural instinct for navigating caves—just nothing else—and forced Ran-ran to stay behind and make sure that nothing happened to the magical stones. He claimed he would be able to find the tree of Inifus and stop off at the camp before coming back to open the portal. By this time Ran-ran was trying her hardest to keep the possibility that he had just died and failed to pressed the 'esc' key from protruding into her thoughts.

"Christ Chex, where the Hell is he…?" She asked, mostly to herself as she pressed her back against the large magical stone, sliding down to sit on the ground. Scattered on the ground were the corpses of the small blue imps of the area, not one having their bones as Necromi had risen his skeletons from their bodies. The ground in some areas was ankle deep in a mixture of blood, organs and skin, and the smell was enough to make her nearly vomit if she was to think about. Good thing she had that scented candle, now half-burned and leaving the air about her smelling quite good.

With the candle set at her side, Ran-ran looked up at the golem's sudden collapse to a pile of lifeless clay at her side. She gave a blink, wondering if the battle at Necromi's end must have been bad enough to strip her of her only protection besides the fiery vodka attack by summoning the golem to where ever he was then. It seemed like an eternity had passed since she had to employ that tactic against an enemy, grinning to herself at the memory of the flaming zombie. Ran-ran looked around at the field, which was far less foggy than the Blood Moor had been, and at the moment completely desolate of monsters and demons that Necromi killed, and hoped that more didn't come before her necromancer could get back.

Oh, how Ran-ran hoped that he could find his way through such a place as the rouge's camp on his own, as he had the last time they were in town. It was quite laughable, what she supposed was suppose to be a scary and intimidating necromancer getting all lost and confused inside the wooden encampment. But she guessed that some of his lack of navigation had to be contributed from stress. After all, rumors of the Lord of Terror returning to reek havoc upon the world, and Necromi now responsible for freeing the gate to the East of one of the demon lord's demonic advocates; Hell, Ran-ran would be stressed out to.

Not too much longer passed before she heard the sudden crunch of bone many times over coupled with the soft sounds of closely associated metal brushing together to make sharp metal noises. Ran-ran looked up and behind her, twisting her body just to watch as Necromi and his horde approached from the nearby waypoint. She couldn't help but smile, the few hours of solitude making her miss him and the skeletons, getting up as they walked closer. It was good to see that he to had the slightest traces of a smile as well, of a combination of pride after making it through the throws of battle once again with a small bundle of scrolls in his hand, and maybe that now he had someone to talk to that would be able to actually talk back; much unlike his skeletons.

"Necromi! Good to see that you could actually find your way through the camp this time!" Ran-ran said with just a hint of sarcasm, "You **did** get the scroll all translated, right?"

"Of course I did. Now come on, we have to go save Cain before the demons get to him." Necromi answered with a sigh, rolling his eyes as the small smile had had faded to a slight frown at Ran-ran's comment. He didn't even stop as their paths met, and he turned her about to head right back to the stones, handing Ran-ran all but one of the rolled up scrolls. Which, after she had a chance to open them and check, turned out to be maps of the Black Marsh, through the barracks of the monastery, and through the levels of the lower catacombs, where she knew that Andariel was.

With a quick glance at the order that the stones had to be touched, Ran-ran stood off to the side with Necromi's summoned horde, watching him activated the stones. The odd humming sound they made after humming vibrated through the air as another and another was touched, the air seeming to thicken and almost crackle with energy. It left a feeling in the air like that of a day of heavy humidity, when the last stone was touched the hum leveled off. And then suddenly the light seemed to drain from the area, streaks darting between the pillars in all directions, holding for a moment before in the center of them all a rip seemed to appear. Colors swirled for a brief moment before red dominated them, the portal settling into a defined oval shape.

"Whoa..." Stared Ran-ran, who had looked at the scene with a wider eye, having found the normally annoying event to be rather amazing, "So... That's like the portal to Tristram...?"

Necromi nodded, and then looked back at Ran-ran, seeming completely serious as he asked,

"Are you going? I would understand if you didn't want to go."

"Of course I'm going! You may have made your way through the camp this time, but I have a serious doubt in your fucking navigation skills-- screw you, I'm going to go and make sure your navigationally-challenged ass doesn't get turned around in the town square." Ran-ran said with a raised eyebrow as she stepped closer, with no more warning pushing Necromi into the portal. She looked around, surprised that the skeletons and golem didn't suddenly disappear as well, blinking as she looked back at the portal. In all honesty, she didn't want to go, the whole situation seeming insane. She was running around dealing with demons and zombies and skeletons and now her necromancer, Ran-ran seriously started to doubt her perception of reality, at that moment firmly convinced that it was merely a dream...

And it was then that the skeletons and golem seemed to press forward, pushing Ran-ran forward into the portal as if it was their first order of business. Sure, she had cried out a bit in distress at suddenly being forced forward, but eventually settled into the feeling of being rushed over many miles in one second, reds and swirls writhing about her as the dark at the end of the tunnel seemed to never end. Then, in a flash, she stumbled to a stop just outside the portal. That was the second time she had to ever use one, after killing Blood Raven was forced through one back to camp. Of course, since Necromi had used the same tactic of pushing her through, he had gotten kicked to the shin.

"Okay, who pu-MRF?" Ran-ran's claim to kick one of the bony creature's bony shins for pushing her was cut off as she found a leathery hand wrapped about her mouth as she was forced to the ground. She blinked, her knees at an odd angle as beside her Necromi knelt, quietly shushing her as his horde started to arrive. They were behind a small section of stone wall, on one side a river flowed, Ran-ran inwardly wandering if it was the same river flowing through the Blood Moor, while to their other side was a small field fenced off from the church yard.

Necromi nodded back, gesturing to what would lay ahead of them, and slowly let Ran-ran go so that she could twist her body about to peer over the wall. Fires burned in the buildings, their roofs by then knocked down and walls beginning to crumble. From the town a pillar of thick, black smoke rose constantly due to the fires, demons and zombies and skeletons wandering aimlessly it seemed. Luckily, though, they didn't go so far as to patrol around the area they were at.

"So, what now Mr. Necromancer? Run up and take the horde of undead and demons head on, basicly ignore Cain until absolutely all the enemies are dead and loot is collected, go back to town to sell stuff, almost forget about Cain on the second trip to get loot, and then come back?" Ran-ran asked, referring to her usual method of approaching this particular quest. Or, really any of the ones that required saving someone. She expected to get a reaction out of Necromi, indeed getting a stare that suggested that he thought she belonged better in an asylum rather than fighting the forces of evil. And that may very well have been the case, seeing as she believed that she was currently in the realm of a video game.

"Well…" Hesitant, Necromi shifted his eyes from Ran-ran to the evil creatures that failed miserably in noticing them, and then back at his navigator, "Do you think you can manage not to trip this time? I mean there are a lot more enemies this time… All I have to do is get Cain out of there, and then we can leave, alright?"

Ran-ran couldn't help but frown, having always thought of killing Griswald and all the other monsters in Tristram as sort of, well, a past-time. Like baseball to America, or her pyromaniac brothers buying large quantity of fireworks and throwing the black cats at her, cars, and randomly placed animals. But, seeing as Necromi was the one with the horde of skeletons and a golem, Ran-ran didn't have really any means to kill and gain loot with, she supposed that going along with this plan was the best thing- especially since it seemed that monsters seemed to have an affinity for trying to catch crazy little virgins.

There wasn't much more staling that she could have done, Ran-ran simply sighing as she crouched into a more moveable position. Then, jumped over the fence, and with an ear-piercing scream that got the attention of the nearby skeletons, she ran forward, faster than the bone creatures would be able to. But of course they didn't really realize that, not that it mattered, their weapons of bows and arrows requiring only that they keep her in sight, not near. Though that did mean that they had to go after Ran-ran as she rounded the corner of the burning, fragile buildings.

But before Ran-ran could ponder where exactly Griswald was at the moment, she skidded to a stop at the large form over her. The not-quite formed question was answered as she looked up, eyes gazing at the skinless face over her glasses. Ran-ran gave the slightest of 'Eep' as the large undead creature looked down at her. And then, without another moment's notice, raised his hand, then curled into a fist.

"SHIT, SHIT! Angry Griswald, **run away run away**!" Ran-ran screamed, her own voice almost enough to give herself a headache as she turned on her heel, dashing away. She cried out in fright as she stopped just before a wall of arrows passed before her, running ahead as the skeleton archers reloaded. Oh how she hoped that Necromi was hurrying as fast as he could.

As she was being chased by the skeletons and disgruntled Griswald, eventually Ran-ran curved her path of running and screaming, dashing between two buildings into the heated town square. Arrows flew at her, and she miraculously managed to not be hit by one of them, hot a dyed hair upon her head or of her blue-colored clothes were struck. She spotted Necromi fighting through the blue cavern demons to try and reach Cain in his cage. Perhaps it was the delusion of her dream, or maybe the demons simply didn't notice her at first, but Ran-ran managed to duck around and jump over the small demons, past Cain's raised cage and around the well. All the while screaming, and all the while knowing that the whole situation was going to be scarring her for life—even worse than her brother shooting at her with a bee-bee gun.

"**Necromi**! Hurry the **HELL** UP!" She had screamed as the skeleton hordes of Necromi were starting to get the situation under semi-control, the golem and Griswald going at it in a punching match. Her necromancer companion sighed as he lowered Cain to the ground, helping the senior Horadrim out of the cage the demons had put him in.

"Ah, many thanks to you stranger!" Cain said in an almost cheerful voice, relieved that someone had finally come to his aid, unlike many of the not-so accepting of Sanctuary, he didn't care if his savior for the moment controlled the magics of death or not. What mattered was that he was alive, though the matter of that screaming girl was something else, and he glanced over as Ran-ran dashed out of the square, a few blue caverners chasing after her, "And… Is that odd little girl… a friend of yours…?"

Looking up and over, Necromi could only sigh as his shoulders dropped, opening a portal to the rouge's camp for Cain to step through before turning back to look for Ran-ran. While a few half-goat men and caverners had found it fit to chase after her—seeing as she made no move to resist—it made finding her easy, her screams acting as a beacon. Just as Ran-ran was turning her head to look back at the horde chasing her, her foot caught on an object that made her go down. With a scream she collapsed to the ground, looking back to see the dead body, practically flowing with gold, beneath her. Ran-ran gave a squeak as her pants were splattered with blood, and Writ's leg came loose.

She gripped it though, and with a wild scream found herself jumping up and swinging at the creatures, cries of 'NO YOU!' ringing out, accompanied by the screams of the bludgeoned creatures. As the creatures in the ruin of Tristram's town square were all dead, even Griswald at that point, Necromi had set out to find Ran-ran. With a single focusing of fears and terrors about the clan's mind she was having a touch of trouble with, the dark gray and black creature was soon sent running from the invisible horrors that plagued it. Necromi couldn't help but smirk a bit at his own handy work, walking calmly to Ran-ran ran.

For a moment they just stared at each other, Ran-ran's gaze measured from over the top rim of her glasses. She narrowed her eyes playfully, feigning annoyance as she said,

"About fucking time, ish da old dude all, y'know, safe?"

"I didn't understand most of the words in your sentence," Started Necromi, crossing his arms at he looked down at his companion, wondering if taking the girl—who killed several demons with someone's leg for god's sake—for mere navigation was right on an ethical level. But then again, it was important that the situation with the demons be handled in a timely mannerism, and that meant getting where he needed to go fast, and since he couldn't use a map worth shit, that meant taking this girl—who _could_ use a map—on the dangerous quests which would sooner or later be either of their end, "But yes, Deckard Cain is fine."

Ran-ran blinked a few times, raising Writ's leg to brace against her shoulder as she nodded a bit. Then, having no more business to attend to in the fallen town, they left. Upon getting back to the camp Cain thanked them, was properly introduced to both of then basicly the rest of the day was spent resting.

Oh, such resting they had.

It was no **normal** rest, no no, it was rest…. Of **DOOM**…


	3. Okay Skipping a Quest

Disclaimers: Stiiiilll no ownage of D2… Oh, and no necromancers were harmed in the following chapter, just a heads up. And school has started again for me o.o;; so now I might not be updating as much… Mainly due to this other story I working on, much better than this fic mind you, I have buried hopes of getting it published one day.

I'm a review whore, gimme? Hugs to those who have already!

:Chapter 3:

With the consideration of how her day so far had gone-- with her first waking up before dawn to an irate Geed ranting about how a certain necromancer had cheated at a game of cards, then the effects of sleeping on nearly-bare ground on rocks came through as a backache, and then the same necromancer than had won many a game against Geed that night before had started to talk at her in a voice that was over-all cheery and annoying-- it was no wonder that Ran-ran felt such a strong need to find the esc key. It wasn't so bad that she had awoken to being in the game still, it was simply that she had a minor est of hopes that her own dreams would have had the decency not to give her body a great deal of pain upon 'waking up'.

She had tried to wash the blood from her clothes the previous day in the river, luckily the rotten blood came out fairly easily, leaving the very lightest of stains. In reality, Ran-ran really didn't mind the splatters of dark across her pants and shirt, ignoring them for the time as she tried to pass up the time Necromi was wasting with playing against Geed one last time hanging with Charsi. Not that the blond really minded, both enjoying having another female to talk to, joking about how Ran-ran's necromancer had a problem with gambling. Which he did, really.

"I mean wouldn't now be a good time to be heading out to go and do that whole 'fighting against the demonic forces that have a hold of the monastery-thing?" Ran-ran asked, rather rhetorically as she sat leaning back against the makeshift wall near the red-hot coals and anvil where the blond blacksmith worked. She made sure not to include any information that she knew of what would happen in the game, after all, she didn't want to run the risk of having anytime-space continuum screwed up on her account. Besides, it was fun watching them all try to figure out what was wrong with the world when she knew what was to come. Perhaps it was a bit cruel not to tell them that their attempts would all and all end in failure, for the most part, that the three brothers were going to get back together and all that jazz.

"Its still pretty early in the morning..." Charsi said cheerfully and with an offered, as she paused in her making of more armor, supposedly for the large masses of would-be heroes that were hording the camp. Ironically Ran-ran hadn't seen one besides her own necromancer character, "I mean you guys could probably get through the marsh in a few hours, and the path through the highlands near the monastery are always clear. I'm sure you guys will be able to get to at least the outer cloister by sunset!"

Ran-ran sighed, though smiled a bit herself, looking back up at Charsi, tilting her head a bit as she noted that the blacksmith had some of the same facial features as one of her good friends, Taleena. She was always friendly, if not a bit pessimistic about her own life at times, but was always willing to try and cheer Ran-ran up with a smile and encouragements. For a moment she had to wonder what it would be like if she never had the chance to see Talee-monster—the nickname Ran-ran gave to her friend out of boredom-- ever again, and the thought made her feel oddly sad. When everything in this dream was done, she did have hopes of returning home, even if that did mean returning to school. Charsi reminded her so of Taleena, more so than the features of her face, but in the ways she just _was_, and had to wonder why she hadn't asked the favor that spurred on the game's next quest.

Of course, as if the universe realized its folly in not making the immediate request, like Ran-ran's conscious wanderings made her practically see the floating exclamation above Charsi's head. The blonde's face lit up as she turned to her, a wide, knowing smile on her face as she fidgeted with her hammer, saying in a soft tone,

"Heeey, speaking of going to the monastery… you guys are going to have to go through the barracks, y'know? And, ironically enough, I sorta… Left my horadric malus in all the rush of leaving…"

Well, there was the quest itself, Ran-ran almost groaned at the fact that Charsi even asked. Normally she would have gotten the malus even without her prompting, hardly ever returning to the camp except to sell and buy items, having memorized the quests from numerous times playing the first act. But since her life was actually in danger this time around, it was needless to say that she was a touch more weary about what quests she was going to go on. Especially since it meant getting closer and closer to facing the one, big challenge of act one…

So, with the favor asked, Ran-ran agreed, mostly out of fear of what the universe she was in would do to her if she was to not accept the mission. Quickly she forced her necromancer character to quite his little game of poker with Geed, telling him of how she promised Charsi to get her hammer back. Not that Necromi minded much, himself surprised by how much time he had used simply playing games, and quickly forced Ran-ran and his horde through the waypoint. Luckily he had had enough time to stop by the Black Marsh—supposedly to bring back some skeletons that had wondered astray to chase down some carvers—and that was their first stop.

The ground underfoot was muddy, and it was far different than the image that Ran-ran had grown to have of the marsh. She hadn't expected it to be so… muddy. Nearly her entire foot was stuck in the mud at any given time, and every step she, Necromi, the skeletons or the golem made created a loud, wet sound. The greenery of mud-thriving moss and sprouts did a good job of covering the wetness underneath.

Since the waypoint had taken them far from the road that was actually a good bit dryer and firmer than the mud, Ran-ran's navigation mostly tried to get them back there. Of course, with a light fog about a foot over the ground, that was steadily growing mind you, it was a bit hard.

"Are we far from the road?" Necromi asked after several minutes of going in what seemed like a circle, Ran-ran walking in the lead, only a few feet in front of him. He glanced over her shoulder at the map, and then around at their surroundings. Just doing that made him a bit dizzy, stopping as she did, wandering what was to come next.

"I…" Started Ran-ran, lifting her glasses up to set upon the top of her head as she studied the map, only to put them back on properly and look around, "Have no idea… But the Countess' abandoned tower-thing iiiis, right over there."

Ran-ran pointed off to the left, where a large, tall and dark form loomed in the mist. The thickness in the air had stayed, the darkness above them taller than any other building that she had seen so far in the dimension of Diablo 2. She knew this particular quest well, that it wasn't exactly required it be done like many other for one to go onto the next act. But she still liked doing it for the experience, items, and gold. Slowly she started towards it, the decrepit tower, blackened stones that made its form covered in moss and ivy. There was practically and aura of darkness that made a shiver of fear jolt down Ran-ran's spine, and on the very lightest of breezes she was able to detect the smell of death, of rot and blood.

"That's just lovely… Now which way is the monastery?" Necromi asked quickly, looking around and then back at Ran-ran.

"Somewhere in that direction… But hey, wanna go and kill the revived countess chick first?" Ran-ran smiled hopefully, looking over at Necromi only to find him walking off in the direction that she had pointed. She eeped just a bit, taking off after him, not wanting to be left behind. After a moment of him not answering her, Ran-ran took up the chance to start off again, "Well? Are we going to go kill the countess or no?"

"No, we're going to go investigate the monastery to see what exactly it is lurking in its depths." Was Necromi's plain answer as he kept a sharp eye out for enemies ahead of them, not sparing a glance at the girl beside him. He paused for a long moment, their path having led them into a corner of the stone walls, and then looked down at Ran-ran with a raised brow. She blinked and looked back at him, those odd blue eyes of his and her chocolate brown ones meeting for a long moment in a mutual stare, of mutual inquiry.

After a long moment of this Ran-ran couldn't help but blink. She began to really feel the weight of the necromancer's stare, shifting her eyes left, then right, and then back at Necromi. It made her feel rather self conscious, being stared at, at all, and shifted her shoulders a bit as she asked in a nearly-whining voice,

"Whaaaaaaat?"

"You have the map, correct?"

"Um… Ya."

"Then please don't tell me you're following me, of all things."

"…Well you **seemed** to know where you were going…" Ran-ran rolled her eyes and frowned, while doing that ever-so cliché shimmying of her head side to side a bit, as all teenagers automatically know how to do for back-talking one's parents or other such authorities. She unraveled the map in her hand, looking from the illustration to the world about them. Ran-ran turned to her left, Necromi followed the motion as she pointed ahead, through the clearing fog the semi-gate structure stood; As well as a small camp of demons, completely oblivious to the two humans and the horde of skeletons.

And what followed was exactly why Ran-ran loved the necromancer class so—not that that other's weren't good… she was just lazy at times—for with a slight nod of his head and a smirk, the skeleton warriors and golem descended upon the encampment of demons. The three mages that Necromi did have simply stood, picking off the shamen, and other such demons that weren't quickly killed by the others. So, standing a good twenty feet from the fray, Ran-ran watched with amusement for the first few minutes, Necromi watching the battle with an intent gaze. But, eventually, as everything to a 16-year-old, the battle had grown boring by the sheer amount of time it took up, a good 15 minutes, including her necromancer having to raise more minions after they were sent back to the netherworld.

Eventually, however, the battle ended, and Ran-ran sighed in an exasperated way, throwing her hands up in the air and proclaiming her relief that they were finally moving on. Once again she drew an odd look from Necromi as she stalked off, past the dead corpses of their fallen enemies, over a few smoldering piles of flesh, and leaped nimbly over a pile of gooy acidic poision that was once a shaman's arm. Quickly he followed her, with a shaking of his head, catching up before the girl got too far ahead. After all, it would have been very bad for her to get caught up in battle, be saved, only to have her fragile hormone-driven mind too shattered from reality to go on—And Necromi was far from prepared to deal with a broken and traumatized teenager.

Soon, Ran-ran was sided by Necromi, the skeletons and golem swarming about and around them, some ahead and some behind. They paused for a moment at the entrance of the highlands, seeing through the few bushes and trees the large gates of the monastery, its tall and long dark stone form consuming the horizon not blocked by trees. Which, truly, was a large portion of their sights, the few cottages and wells seeming minuscule by comparison. Ran-ran marveled at the gates, though moving forms alike to Necromi's skeletons in the immediate area in front of her drew her attention to the enemy skeletons heading right towards them.

It was the moment when they were approaching, the enemies, that the minion skeletons had yet to realize villains were close, that Ran-ran felt most afraid. Sure, she had convinced herself that she was in a state of a dream many times over, not once daring to pinch herself to be sure, but the subconscious fear of those skeletons coming for her sunk in many times over. She couldn't help but give a slight inward squeak, taking a few small steps back behind Necromi, tilting her body just enough to peak out, only to relax as the summoned creatures went to killing. Like knights in shining armor… Only not nearly as fleshy, and the little armor they did wear was dingy, the color of pewter.

This trend of Ran-ran's alternating hiding and actively navigating, making jokingly sure that her necromancer didn't wander off the trail, not that Necromi appreciated her playful teasing. They were steadily gaining on the stone walls of the monastery, the winding road leading them closer and closer to their goal, the darkness within. And every step closer brought up a feeling of growing closer and closer to some eminent danger in both of them, a somewhat fearful feeling that barely registered to their consciousness. Sometimes simply looking towards the monastery, which as they approached Ran-ran realized bore a dark cloud above it, sent a shiver of unknown fear jumping electrically down her spine. But what was even worse was that she knew what lurked in the depths, of what dangers she faced in really what was only the beginning of the story.

Enemies fell to the ground in their own and their allies' blood, the path to the monastery's large, carven wooden doors now looming high above them, clear. With the accept ion of the corpses littering the ground before them, of course. Necromi's dagger had barely been used, only to fend off a demoness that strayed too close to he or Ran-ran, who stayed close to her necromancer out of habit more than anything. But she knew that she'd have to grow out of it fairly soon, that Necromi would have to either go back to battling, or summon much more skeletons. Which, by the time they were calmly walking towards the door, she was able to could count an added skeleton mage to the ranks of the small force.

The wood of the door was dark, worn with time, the metal of the hands of the bolts and spars carvings showed great care and craftsmanship that she was immediately able to appreciate. Necromi, who would have as well if he wasn't so busy pushing the door open, revealed the large open garden-like room. Columns of stone gated around the open area, grass splotched with blood and a few dismembered bodies. There was a perfectly-square patch of cleared ground, a dark circle and lines carved into it, the unlit torches of the waypoint set on either side of the circle. Not too far from the traveling point was the fountain of the courtyard-like area. Ran-ran had always liked that fountain, the three arrow-barring rouge statues pointing in three directions.

While Necromi lit the waypoint and for the few moments Ran-ran had to herself, she looked around, walking closer to the statue fountain. It was a beautiful scene, while the rest of the world was falling into chaos and discord that this one small area was in complete peace and harmony it seemed. And then, she peered over the edge at the particular sound of… quacking? Ran-ran blinked a few times as she saw several ducks swimming about in the semi-clear waters of the fountain. They were white, black, brow, and mixtures of those, all going about their duck-business, diving and grooming and splashing about.

"Ran-ran! Come on! I'm not the one with the maps!" Came Necromi's voice, calling from the door on the far side of the cloister, near the door to another area of the courtyard. Ran-ran glanced at the ducks only one more time before jogging back over to her companion, switching maps as she went. No longer did they need the maps of the Tomoeh highlands, nor the Black Marsh. Not with how far they had gone, she knew that they wouldn't be returning there. But Ran-ran kept them, shifting them to the very back of the small stack of papers.

"Yeah yeah… Lets just get this whole thing over with…" Ran-ran said with a sigh, stopping as she quickly got her bearings with the map. She smiled and rolled her eyes as she turned towards another door, saying absently, "This is the right door, by the way!"

And it was, and quickly they got through the outer cloister, passing through a larger door to the next small courtyard. At the other end of the long room-like structure was the door leading to the barracks, and with little hesitation after killing the enemies, they dove into the darkness. It was a sudden shift from the more open room with such things as plants and sunshine, oh the sweet sunshine, to that of darkness. The pillar of light from the open door guided them through the first small room filled with boxes and barrels. As they moved onto the next, however, and moved deeper than that even, the stray sunlight wasn't enough anymore. Now they had to navigate by the torch-lights, growing use to it none the less. They had to, if they wished to survive the b arrack's challenges

Arrows shot from the darkness about them, beyond the rings of light from the torches, and the light that ebbed around them. The golem and skeletons dashed out to take care of the skeletal menaces that wouldn't even move as they were struck down. Ran-ran couldn't help but panic as they went deeper and deeper, having to drink her first health potion after a stray missile struck her shoulder. The pain and blood made the realization snap in her head that this situation was anything but fake, and the bitter-sweetness of the thick, red liquid forced down her throat made it more so. Gold and treasures were collected, Ran-ran given a bundle of volatile, yellow-orange potions to throw at the enemies that strayed to close to her.

None the less, she guided them through the barracks, fighting the monsters that nested there for the time. They came to a door, of a rather suspicious nature, sounds of stomping coming from the other side of the door that seemed alike to that of the golem's footsteps. Ran-ran knew what had to be behind the door, before going too close to it stopping suddenly, grabbing Necromi's arm and pulling him to a similar state of speed.

"Ran-ran, what's wrong?" Necromi asked softly after a moment, looking down at his young companion with concern, wondering if there was any complications from her previous wounds. She was glancing at the door they were just meters from, and then back at him, seeming as if wanting to say something, almost as if debating with herself if she should say it. He rose an eyebrow as she looked up at him over the rim of her glasses, the clear plastic low on her nose.

"Dude... Necromi... Be careful in there, there's this big-ass demon smith thing..." Ran-ran said, nodding as if to confirm her answer.

"...And how would you know this?" Was the question from the necromancer, crossing his arms as he looked down at her. There were no traces of a smirk or smile on his lips, he was being completely serious, and Ran-ran couldn't hep but feel uncomfortable under his cold gaze.

"Just... Ah... Never mind..." She had to close her eyes, and speak quietly to keep from squeaking, and Necromi let the matter pass for the moment, turning to the door. Ran-ran felt herself tense up as he stepped forward, grasping the knob of the door, skeletons and golem at ready.

He quickly opened the door, summoned minions storming into the place. Nothing, there were no enemies to be seen in the small room, which made Ran-ran blink in confusion as she followed in wearily. Necromi smiled as he looked at the small area prepared with an anvil and an oven filled where red-hot coals lay. But it was the instrument that hung above the anvil that made him smile in what one would think of as a victory, the horadric malus. He stepped towards it, tilting his head the slightest to look at it, and then gave a quick glance around at the room, at its shadows that lay silent. Normally the demons and monsters would come out almost automatically, but the room was quiet, the only sounds their breathing and the ob vies noises of the skeletons and golem. But no monsters were in sight, that fact alone scared Ran-ran to her core.

Necromi reached out, going to take the malus, not noticing the gasping sound from his small companion at the sight that emerged from the shadows behind him. Ran-ran couldn't breath, eyes growing wide as the skeleton minions around her finally took notice of the danger that came near, but were too late as the monster towering over him. The weapon raised as sphere of summoned magic were thrown out towards the bulging red demon, hardly effecting the leathery skin as the large weapon in his hand came down.

Right upon Necromi's head. The dreadful, wet cracking sound upon impact alone made Ran-ran nauseated, shaking her with fear. She looked around as the skeletons detached to incoherent bones, and the golem a pile of crumbled clay on the floor, alike to their master. Necromi crumbled to the floor, body limp and eyes dulled.

Ran-ran looked back up at the demon, his eyes now on her, and as she found her legs frozen stiff in place, her voice was no longer caught in her voice as she screamed with a passion, deeply in the most instinctual of fears. The fear of one's own death.


End file.
